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To seek reservations in jobs and education for the Maratha community Latest Current Affairs  : Lakhs of people from across Maharashtra are expected to attend a protest march in Mumbai on Wednesday, seeking reservations in jobs and education for the Maratha community. This will be the 58th — and the largest-protest march of the Maratha community, exactly a year after the first march was held in Aurangabad, the organisers told reporters in Mumbai. So far, 57 protests, in the form of 'Mook Morcha' (silent rallies), have been held in various parts of the state following the brutal rape and murder of a 14-year-old Maratha girl in Kopardi in Ahmednagar district in July 2016. On Wednesday, the  Maratha Kranti Morcha  will begin at 11 am from the BMC's Jijamata Udyan and culminate at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai, the organisers said. Social media platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter have been used to spread the morcha message to community members, they s...

Like his book, Tendulkar’s biopic is a nostalgic cruise through his career As I walked out of the cinema hall after watching Sachin: A Billion Dreams, I wondered: Would I have thought differently of this biopic had I not known anything about the person it is based on? James Erskine’s documentary on one of the most celebrated cricketers in the world – one who has achieved a near-deific status in India – went along expected lines. But was that because I, like many Indians and cricket followers around the world, already knew so much about Sachin Tendulkar? How would someone living under a rock for the last quarter of a century, and did not know who Tendulkar was, have liked it? Sachin: A Billion Dreams   starts off rather nicely, showing us a naughty curly-haired boy of seven or eight years living in Mumbai’s Bandra suburb, getting up to the usual seven-or-eight-year-old boy things like annoying his neighbours with pranks. The boy then receives a cricket bat as a gift from h...

Shiv Sena is leading in 84 seats, BJP 80, while Congress 31 in BMC The ruling   Shiv Sena   appeared all set to retain control over the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's biggest and richest civic body, election officials said on Thursday. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was pushed to a distant second slot in Mumbai in the civic body elections held across Maharashtra. Of the 227 BMC seats, the Sena led in 84, still short of the 114 needed for a simple majority. The BJP had won 80 seats while the Congress was at a distant third with 31 seats to its credit. The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) was poised to win 10 seats, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) eight and the All Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen four. Stunned by the outcome, Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam offered to resign from the post. Buoyed by its imminent victory in Mumbai, Shiv Sena supporters celebrated across Mumbai. The BMC had an annual budget of Rs 37,000 cr...

Police had earlier said that no one had come forward to file a complaint about the incident Breaking News   : Three days after the New Year eve revelry turned into a nightmare for several women who were allegedly molested at a large gathering in city's downtown area, police today claimed to have found "credible" evidence of molestation and have registered an FIR. As the incidents drew widespread outrage with no action from the police, Bengaluru's new Commissioner of Police, Praveen Sood through a series of tweets tonight, said his team was working on the case silently. "As promised we have found credible evidence repeat credible evidence in a case of wrongful confinement,   Bengaluru Molestation   and attempt to rob," Sood had said in a tweet. "We have taken action by registering an FIR. Investigation is in progress. Police is working.... Though silently," he had said in another tweet. Stating that enquiry is underway by an officer of...

Shah Rukh Khan's Raees release date has been changed again, hopefully for the last time. Raees will release with Hrithik Roshan's Kaabil on January 25. The clock is ticking and the entire nation is waiting for the release of the much-anticipated trailer of Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees. But even before that, we have got a shocking news that yet again, the filmmakers have decided to change the release date. Well, we were just praying that they do not push the dates forward since we and the fans would be disheartened but thankfully the date has been brought forward just by a day. The film, which was scheduled for January 26 release, will now reach a theatre near you on January 25. Well, seems like Shah Rukh is extremely confident about his film and is not shying away from the box-office clash with Hrithik Roshan’s upcoming Kaabil. It was just a few days ago when filmmaker Rakesh Roshan had mentioned that he is releasing Kaabil on the same date. Earlier, both the films were sched...

Best remembered for her work in fighting AIDS, she was incredibly networked across biz and entertainment On a day when millions across the world and in India celebrated the festival of Dussehra, came news that 71-year-old   Parmeshwar Godrej , wife of industrialist Adi Godrej, was no more. She passed away on Monday night in a hospital here. Her death came as a shock to many of her friends and well-wishers, who took to twitter to express their grief. Pam, as she was referred to among friends, is survived by her husband and three children – Tanya, Nisa and Pirojsha. She was among India's foremost style icons, philanthropist and a gracious host, who was the life of every party she attended or threw. Behind the glamour, however, was a strong woman, say acquaintances and friends, who was intelligent, who carried herself well and who could strike up a conversation easily, helping her straddle the world of business and entertainment well. An example of her influence in social ...

Can't Attend Court, Passport Was Cancelled, Claims Vijay Mallya Liquor baron   Vijay Mallya   on Friday informed a Delhi court that he wants to come to India but is unable to travel back as his passport has been suspended by Indian authorities. Mallya made the submission through his counsel before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass in a case lodged for allegedly evading summons in connection with a FERA violation matter. On July 9, the court had cancelled the exemption from personal appearance granted to him and had directed him to appear before it. In his application moved through senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, Mallya requested the court that some time be given so that his appearance can be secured. The counsel submitted the copy of an email sent by Mallya, stating that his passport was suspended on April 23, 2016 without giving him any opportunity of being heard. Enforcement Directorate (ED), however, told the court that Mallya is already evading proceed...

IndiGo's Aditya Ghosh gets Rs 21-cr incentive after record profit IndiGo’s President and whole-time Director   Aditya Ghosh   took home Rs 27 crore in salary, including Rs 20.9 crore in one-time incentive for the financial year ended March 31, 2016. India’s most profitable airline was also generous in rewarding its 12,000-plus employees who received an average 42 per cent rise in remuneration in FY16. Ghosh received the incentive “in recognition of his efforts towards the growth and success of the company during the financial year ending March 31, 2016,” the airline said in its annual report. Ghosh earned Rs 27 crore in gross salary and 700,000 shares in stock options in FY16. In FY15, he had received a gross remuneration of Rs 3.7 crore, according to the airline’s initial public offering prospectus.   (more)

Waterways is game changer, mass rapid transport on electric to be India's future The Centre has accorded top priority to cost-effective, pollution free and import substitute transport. Besides, integrated transportation to reduce logistic cost and increased road safety. Union Minister of Roads, Highways, Ports and Shipping   Nitin Gadkari   explains the government’s strategy In an interview with   Sanjay Jog . Q: What will be the government's approach for integrated transport since transportation is a major part of industry cost? A:   Our effort is for cost effective, pollution free and import substitute transport. This means implementation of roads, highways, railways, ports, waterways, shipping, and airports in a time bound manner. The plan to connect them, integrate them. Shipping industry will be made LNG-based which is pollution-free and cost effective. The ministry will encourage operations of sea planes, catamarans, hover crafts and cruise ships. A...

Chinese   smartphone   maker   OnePlus   might manufacture its latest device   OnePlus 3   in India. The company last month suspended local production of its   OnePlus X   smartphone within five months of launch, due to tepid demand. But, demand for its latest OnePlus 3 model is outstripping supply and the Chinese company could make the handsets at the Foxconn factory in India. “We are facing a supply crunch. Since we dropped the invite-only approach, demand is higher than expected,” said Vikas Agarwal, general manager, India, OnePlus. “We are importing handsets from China but are looking to start assembling in India by the end of this year. We are searching for component suppliers for OnePlus 3,” he added. “We ceased production of OnePlus X recently,” Agarwal said. “The demand was not enough to justify production,” he added. According to a CMR report published in June, OnePlus became one of the top five in the high-end smartphone ma...

RJio is choking our networks: telcos The war that had so far been brewing silently between incumbent telecom operators and  Reliance Jio   has come out in the open. Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) fired a salvo at Jio on Monday by writing to Telecom Secretary J S Deepak alleging that Jio was masquerading full-blown services in the guise of a trial, which they said amounted to predatory pricing. The COAI's letter was a response to one sent by Jio to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) claiming that incumbents were not providing enough interconnect bandwidth. In response, the incumbents have alleged that the burgeoning voice traffic emanating from  RJio   is choking their networks, given that 1.5 million subscribers of Jio are calling people who are on the networks of other leading telcos. When a subscriber of one network makes a call to a subscriber of another network, the point at which the two networks connect are known ...

Indians stranded in Saudi Arabia: All you need to know about the issue Nearly 10,000 Indians stuck in   Saudi Arabia   are set to be evacuated and provided with food in the meanwhile, Sushma Swaraj,   External Affairs   Minister, informed the Parliament on Monday. Minister of State, VK Singh, will be travelling to Saudi Arabia soon to oversee the operation, which involves airlifting people. The minister was making a statement in the House after other members of Parliament (MPs) raised concerns over the plight of workers there. Here’s a gist of the entire issue and the Centre’s issue to provide relief to such workers. What is the issue? The Saudi government was forced to cut its spending last year on the back of plummeting oil prices As a result, it created pressure on the financials of local construction companies. Such firms employ foreign workers and rely on state contracts. The resultant strain on the firms led to nearly 10,000 workers being laid o...